Fine Cheese & Charcuterie January 2017

Winter has defnitely come to Boston. We stare at our mobile phone weather report, which is looking quite bleak, and watch the mercury dive from a reasonable temperature right down to frigid territory. My hibernation instincts start to kick in, which means that a little comfort food is needed to restore warmth to my heart. In my household when the temperature goes down, the raclette grill comes up...from the basement storage. Fortunately, two pounds of raclette, the alpine cheese from Switzerland worth its weight in gold, somehow jumped into my shopping basket during my recent pilgrimage to my favorite cheese shop for holiday entertaining supplies. 

When my back yard starts to look like a snow covered alpine landscape, I do as the Swiss do, and make my two favorite winter meals that fortunately involve lots of melted Swiss cheese. Like so many memorable European meals, cheese fondue and raclette taste so good because they couldn’t be simpler to prepare. Take some of the world’s great cheeses, melt them into smooth ribbons of gooey decadence, and scoop up with fresh baked bread or pour over steak and roasted potatoes. These meals really allow you to truly appreciate the unique avor of these cheeses in all of their glory uninhibited by other flavors. All of a sudden, life is good again, and I am happy that winter has finally arrived. 

For your winter comfort, James has penned an informative story about more of the great alpine cheeses that are found in Switzerland. 

Hope you enjoy your visit to the Winter Fancy Food Show. 

David Spencer 

Publisher, Fine Cheese & Charcuterie 

dspencer@gourmetbusiness.com